Road signs are signs that are adjacent to a road that provide information to the drivers and passengers of vehicles traveling on the road. Road signs can give information about many things, including: the speed limit, distances, road conditions, crossings, exit information, advertisements, etc.
Current road signs include a mount and a sign. The mount provides a foundation for the road sign and prevents the road sign from being moved out of position. The sign provides a surface for information to be printed upon to be displayed to approaching vehicles. The sign is mounted on a face that is visible to oncoming traffic. As vehicles approach the road sign, the driver and/or passenger of a vehicle may see the sign and read the information printed on the sign. Sign technology is highly developed and reflective surfaces are well exploited. Backward signs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,124,526 to Keach, but without any discussion of advantages or restrictions as to availability of information to only interested drivers. Such unrestricted deployment is a distraction and, therefore, a safety hazard which should require a pre-emptive warning.
One problem with current road signs is they are insufficient in providing all of the information necessary for the drivers of certain vehicles. For example, a driver of a large truck can read a road sign that shows a fuel station at a certain exit and take the exit thinking that the fuel station is accessible to trucking rigs. The driver may exit off of the highway only to find that the fuel station is not accessible to trucking rigs. The truck driver then must find a safe place to turn the trucking rig around, get back on the highway, and proceed to look for another fuel station, where the same situation may occur. This problem could be corrected by providing additional information to the driver of the truck about whether or not the fuel station is accessible to trucking rigs. The information could be added to the front of the sign, but most signs are already full. Readability at road speed, sign size, and potential interest to a wide cross-section of the users of the roadway are important considerations. Federal and state regulations prevent certain signs from being any larger than they already are and also restrict the quantities and locations of signs. Further, certain information is surely not of interest to all drivers or passengers of many vehicles. In addition, some states provide a radio message to travelers on the roadway and the availability of the radio station is made known to drivers via signs along the roadway. This requires the driver of the vehicle to search for the station while driving, which results in a potential safety hazard, particularly with the absence of station buttons on newer radios for cars.
Accordingly, there is a need for a sign system for roads that provides additional information primarily to interested drivers.